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Christina M. Cruz, MD, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry, created a new school mental health system that is being piloted in the Darjeeling Hills of India.


A novel school mental health system created by Christina M. Cruz, MD, an assistant professor in the department of psychiatry, was recently featured in an article on The Darjeeling Chronicle, a news website in India.

As a 2018 Global Health Scholar through the UNC School of Medicine’s Office of International Activities, Cruz created the TeaLeaF (TEAchers LEAding Frontline) Program for the Darjeeling Hills of India through the Broadleaf Health and Education Alliance. The TeaLeaF program focuses on task-shifting mental health services to local community leaders and teachers.

On March 8, The Darjeeling Chronicle published an article about a group of rural primary school teachers who travelled from across Darjeeling District to the village of Latpanchar for a 10 day residential training. You can read the article here.